Identification of the type locality of the South Island Brown Kiwi Apteryx australis

Autor: Rogan M. Colbourne, John Innes, Jamie R. Wood, V. L. De Pietri, L. de Nascimento, Jason T. Weir, RP Scofield, Hugh A. Robertson
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Conservation Genetics. 22:645-652
ISSN: 1572-9737
1566-0621
Popis: New Zealand’s iconic, flightless and endangered species of kiwi (Apterygidae) are at risk of extinction on the mainland due to predation by introduced mammals. In order to provide effective conservation management a robust understanding of genetic variation in the group is needed. Recent genomic analyses of kiwi suggest that several cryptic and as yet undescribed lineages occur in the South Island, most notably within a taxon that has until now been called Apteryx australis australis, the South Island Brown Kiwi or Tokoeka. In order for these lineages to be formally described and treated as separate conservation units it is first necessary to determine from which lineage of Tokoeka the holotype was collected. To determine this, we generated a near complete mitochondrial genome and nuclear SNP dataset for the holotype and compared these with living kiwi populations. Our results definitively assign the holotype to the Stewart Island population of brown kiwi which until now was recognized as a distinct subspecies Apteryx australis lawyri (Rothschild, 1893). This leads us to synonymize Apteryx lawryi Rothschild, 1893 within Apteryx australis Shaw, 1813. As the holotype was collected by sealers in the early 19th century, the result also provides a novel insight into the activities of early sealers in New Zealand. New names for taxa will need to be erected for any mainland South Island taxa described, because there are no scientific names available for taxonomy.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: